Unusual Sterling pipe or tube?

[RustyRelicHunter]

I found this mystery item in a jewelry box I bought at a local estate auction. It had some kind of white powder in the top half but the powder fell out when I opened the tube. The powder might have been some type of gum substance which dried up over the many years of storage.

The top is marked Sterling.

Can anybody tell me what this item is called and what it was used for?

The lower half inserts into the top half and the entire unit is 2.5 inches long when closed. The diameter is very small (less than a drinking straw).

Thanks!

Rusty

 

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[bowwinkles]

My first thought was that was an extendable drug sniffer. If they make such a thing.

 

[xr7ator]

Looks like part of a writing device to me.

 

[nkellam22]

Top of a pen

 

[RustyRelicHunter]

Thanks for your replies but I don't think it could be a part of a pen because it is completely closed at both ends when assembled.

I have added pictures of both ends.

Rusty

 

[RustyRelicHunter]

The sterling mark and a makers mark which looks like a cross similar to a 4 leaf clover is actually on the bottom end.

Rusty

 

[xr7ator]

You've never seen a pen that has a cover for the writing tip and you pull off the cover to use the pen?

 

[xr7ator]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STERLING-S...964788?hash=item3cedc23234:g:uAIAAOSw7ThUf7LJ

 

[RustyRelicHunter]

I have seen many pens similar to what you describe and that is why I am puzzled by this object: it is only 2.5 inches long when the upper part is inserted into the bottom part and there is no pen point or mechanism nor any way to place the cap on the pen for writing in order to use as a single unit rather than 2 separate pieces.

Thanks!

Rusty

 

[ARC]

Dog whistle ?

 

[ticndig]

Just a guess , pocket perfume dispenser , for back when baths were not so frequent .
I see the pocket clip and a hole in the end which led me to think of this.

I also like the dog whistle idea.

 

[xr7ator]

I could very well be wrong but I'm sticking with a writing device and you don't have the guts of it.

 

[Anduril]

Maybe a Victorian-era PEZ Dispenser?
Or a pill dispenser?

The part with the pocket clip has a long slit that runs down the side.
This could be to facilitate a friction fit (just drop one space down to dispense a pill).
Or, it could be to facilitate different diameter medications.
The fact that it is only 2" long when assembled, asserts that it could easily fit in a shirt pocket.

But, this is only a guess. I don't know what it is.

 

[ARC]

Nitro pill dispenser. ?

 

[Red-Coat]

As Anduril points out, the slit running the length of the upper part suggests that it's not a pen.

I wonder if it might be a 'champagne whisk', missing its innards. These were carried by swanky folk to rejuvenate a glass of champagne that had lost its fizz. Typical construction was a slimline tube with an open groove running down one side such that the operation of a slider caused a bunch of wire prongs to appear out of the end for twirling in your glass. You can see it on this one, which has its prongs extended:



When closed with the prongs retracted, the ball on the central prong acts as a kind of 'stopper' but I have seen them with a cap instead, as a two-piece item. The one above is in gold, but much larger numbers of silver ones exist.

 

[RustyRelicHunter]

Thank you all for your excellent replies. I think the powder that was caked in the upper part suggests that it is a pill dispenser and the old pills had disintegrated.

Rusty

 

[ARC]

Nitro pill dispenser. ?

... :P

 

[RustyRelicHunter]

How small are (or were) nitro pills? Would nitro pills turn to gum or jell after sitting many years in a jewelry box and then dry up to a white powder after exposure to air? I think your suggestion of nitro pills is probably correct but I can't find anything like this on ebay or PicClick. Also, the cross-like mark that I thought was a makers mark might actually be some type of medical symbol. Rusty

 

[How Lucky]

Doctors pocket thermometer holder.

Vintage Rare 1927 Sterling Silver Doctors Thermometer Dickinson W/ Box Papers Nr

 

[Anduril]

That was actually my first guess too, but I discarded it because I felt that 2-1/2 inches was too short for a mercury thermometer.